John Denham

The police and the government should make a bigger attempt to involve Muslim communities in the development of anti-terrorism policies, MPs have said.

A report from the Commons home affairs select committee said that minority communities were not being unfairly targeted by anti-terrorism legislation.

But the study called for better leadership on the issue from all sides.

"We do not believe that the Asian community is being unreasonably targeted by the police in their application of... the Terrorism Act or of the other legislation enabling stops and searches," said the report.

"Nonetheless, we accept that there is a clear perception among all our Muslim witnesses that Muslims are being stigmatised.

"Special efforts should be made by the police and government to reassure that they are not being singled out unfairly."

Muslim leaders should be involved in scrutinising police intelligence, said the MPs, but faith leaders should also "condemn, without equivocation, those of their co-religionists who advocate violence".

Committee chairman John Denham said that community relations had deteriorated overall since 2001, but there are "many positive initiatives that show the way forward".

"Leadership is the key to dealing with the issues arising from terrorism and community relations," he said.

"Local leaders, faith leaders and central government all have their parts to play in building cohesive communities."

He added: "The Muslim community in Britain overwhelmingly rejects terrorism.

"The stereotyping of the Muslim community was rightly criticised in our inquiry.

"The government needs to bring together its support for community cohesion with its anti-terrorist strategy and certainly needs to ensure that the Muslim community are fully involved in developing the next steps in tackling terrorism."